Decoration Day

I can remember when we were growing up that Decoration Day was a big deal.  For those of you who don't know, Decoration Day is a time honored tradition of the South.  It's a day that is spent taking care of a loved ones grave.  Before perpetual care at cemeteries grave sites were taken care of by family.

We usually got new clothes for Easter and we couldn't wear them again until after Decoration.  Most of the time it was a time for the family to gather from both near and far to do something out of respect as well as visit.  It was usually the one time of year that you saw distant kin folks.

We usually went to three different cemeteries.  Two of them were where my grandparents were buried and the other was where my Dad's brother was buried.  I remember like yesterday the first time I ever saw my Dad shed a tear.  He had been searching for where his brother was buried and when we found it, the grave was all grown up with saplings and weeds.  I watched as he took out his pocket knife and started to cut away all that he could.  I saw each tear fall to the ground as he promised that would never happen again.

I had not been to that cemetery in years until last Sunday.  My oldest sister and I went to all three of those cemeteries when we got off work.  Finding our Grandparents graves was easy, but since it had been so long since either of us had been to our Uncle's grave site, it was a challenge.  I tried looking it up on the computer, but didn't have any luck.  Then I called the local funeral home and they gave me directions.  Even though we found the cemetery we couldn't locate the tombstone.  I was beside myself, to think something might have happened to it, how would we ever find the right grave!  I decided to go back and look again, this time I found it. 

A lot can be said for traditions and family.  Honor old ones, make some new ones. 

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